Is it Monica's war or the oil baron's

Col. David H. Hackworth, author of "Steel My Soldiers' Hearts," "Price of Honor" and "About Face," saw duty or reported as a sailor, soldier and military correspondent in nearly a dozen wars and conflicts -- from the end of World War II to the fights against international terrorism.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan put the latest bout with Saddam Hussein on
ice with a deal that’s the same type of hoax Neville Chamberlain cut with
Adolph Hitler in 1939.

After the agreement was signed, Bill Clinton took a break from the Oral
office and dashed off to Utah to unwind after months of bobbing and
blinking. He’d flat worn himself out lowering the threat bar from
‘gonna make you dead in a Little Rock minute’ to a bottom rung
‘gonna reduce or diminish your ability to cook up more germs and deadly gases’
Clinton’s nemesis, Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., continues to rant that he
wants to bomb Iraq into finely-minced camel dung — just the way Barry
Goldwater wanted to zap Vietnam back in the 1960s when Lott and Clinton
were learning their war-fighting skills behind their university’s skirts.

Meanwhile, for our warriors in the Gulf, about as welcome among the locals
as a case of ham and beans, there’s neither winter sports nor senatorial
posturing. They remain overworked pawns in a dumb exercise guarding the
American elite’s favorite gas station.

Acting like he’s still in charge of our no-win Gulf policy, oil
multimillionaire and former Secretary of State James A. Baker says “We will
maintain our current military strength in the Gulf for the foreseeable
future.”

Current Secretary of State Madeline Albright seems to have no problem with
this. She holds that our warriors are all professionals and that being
there, laying their lives on the line, is what they’re paid to do.

However, to maintain a presence in the Gulf is not just costly in dollars
– since November perhaps as much as $10 billion has been spent trying to
checkmate Saddam — this mission also further saps our already
over-stretched forces.

The $10 billion price tag, which is increasing at an estimated $200 million
a month, could well come out of each service’s hide. If this becomes the
case, it will slug our forces where it hurts: their readiness, which is
already in the toilet.

Chinese general Sun Tzu wrote 2,500 years ago, “The skillful leader subdues
the enemy’s troops without any fighting … he overthrows their kingdom
without lengthy operations in the field … without losing a man, his
triumph is complete.”

Has Saddam been reading Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” while our leaders read
the oil prices in the Wall Street Journal?

The Bushes and Bakers have been chanting for decades that the Persian Gulf
region is critical to our national interests. It’s clear that “national
interests” is a Texan code word for “oil.”

Would this power clique give a damn about Saddam if there were no oil in
the Persian Gulf? I doubt it. His weapons of mass destruction would receive
the same attention as other loony tunes who have them such as Gadhafi and
the Ayatollahs.

Saddam’s neighbors — who say we should guard ‘em, but not launch our war
planes from their bases — don’t seem to sweat Saddam’s bugs and germs.
Even Israel is cool, but they’re on record that they’ll turn Iraq into a
nuclear melted glass factory if one bug comes their way. Yet the U.S. oil
barons and pals are all chanting, “Bomb, bomb, bomb.”

Where Saddam is a clear and present danger is to the entrenched U.S. oil
interests. Besides keeping oil prices from plummeting if Iraqi oil hits the
world market, our oil/defense cartel needs a bogeyman in the Persian Gulf
to justify the $50-billion-a-year U.S. military presence there — a
presence that’s good for the porkers and their racketeer corporate buddies
who deal in oil and wonder weapons.

Since our undeclared war with Iran in the 1980′s, Bush and Baker and fellow
oil barons have thirsted for a permanent U.S. military force in the Persian
Gulf. By billing Saddam as the greatest evil figure since Hitler they have:

A propaganda tool to con the American people into believing that the new
cold war is in the gulf.

Justification to maintain U.S. bases in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other
nearby countries. Without bogeyman Saddam, these nations would say, “Yankee
go home.”

A way out of this ever-worsening nightmare is to stop letting the oil
barons wag our dog and let the Arabs defend themselves. We should pull our
troops out of the Gulf and use the $50-billion-a-year savings to make
America oil-independent.

Hack Notes

Emergency… Emergency… Emergency…

3 OCTOBER 1993 — CLINTON’S “UNFORTUNATE CASUALTIES…”
A major TV news outfit is working on a story that should rocket those
responsible for the horror of Mogadishu. Those leaders from Clinton on down
whose collective stupidity was responsible for 18 brave warriors dying in
vain and another 100 wounded will be nailed to the cross for the world to
bear witness.

If you were there with the Ranger Task Force, 10th Mtn. or with a support
unit and have some insight on that mess, contact me by e-mail immediately.
Chris, we need to talk ASAP. Please e-mail me. Don’t have your new number.

– Hack

Awards and Decorations

Last year CBS-TV had some good old fashioned fun with my old hide, turning
my bod ever so slowly on a red-hot barbecue. Dan Rather announced to the
world that I’d “worn” an OLC on my DFC and a Ranger Tab that weren’t on my
records. In other words, I was a phoney.

I replied, “I only claimed awards the Army issued me.” And not only did I
have the engraved DA-issued medals and Ranger Tab, I had the paperwork to
back them up — all of which I offered to produce for CBS.

But Rather and crew couldn’t wait for the documentation to arrive from
Australia, nor take the time to check with the Army. Deadlines and spins
sometimes overrule due diligence. So they ran with the story.

I was tried and judged guilty.

After CBS’ story ran, I asked the Department of the Army to audit my
records and provide documentation as to what my entitlements were. After
ten long months, they’ve just finished their study. Next week, after I
receive hard copy, I’ll post the results in these pages.

Stay tuned. There just might be some justice left in the good old USA.